As he talked about surviving the accident that nearly took his life, Bothell Fire Department Lt. Gary Wick used the word “miracle” several times.

In retelling the incident, he also spoke about being ready to slip into shock and unconsciousness when the thought entered his head that, above everything else, he just wanted to go home again.

“I asked God to get me home to my wife,” said Wick, who did indeed return to his home and wife, Chris, in January after extensive facial reconstructive surgery. Gary Wick also returned to work at the Bothell Fire Department in mid-April.

On April 21, Bothell City Council and the city fire department honored the eight firefighters and medics from three departments credited with saving Wick’s life.

Wick, 52, and a 20-year veteran of the Bothell fire service, was among those who responded Dec. 26 to a medical 911 call at the Green Acres Mobile Home park on 15th Avenue Southeast. Wick and fellow firefighter Rob vanSpaandonk were trying to wheel a gurney into one of the units when a metal awning covered with wet, heavy snow collapsed.

Wick said he figures that with all the snow that covered it, that awning weighed a couple of thousand pounds. He ended up with his head pinned between the awning, or roof, and the metal gurney.

“I knew I was in a lot of trouble,” Wick said. “It felt like an axe in my head.”

“It was a day I’ll never forget,” said vanSpaandonk. He added Wick was leading the way with the stretcher when, without any warning, the awning just fell.

“I had more adrenaline going through me than at any point in my life,” vanSpaandonk added.

Both vanSpaandonk and firefighter LeeAnn Crawford immediately began to try and rescue Wick, according to acting Bothell Fire Chief Randy Alvarado. He added that Crawford placed her own life in danger by crawling under the collapsed awning herself.

Eventually, vanSpaandonk and Crawford were able to extricate Wick, but his problems were far from over. At that point in time, Wick said his head was comparable to a cracked egg.

Among other problems, Wick’s upper jaw had broken away from his skull. He had a busted eye socket. He was wearing braces and the metal cut deep into his lips. Had trained personnel not been just a few feet away, Wick assumes he would have died.

Eventually, Wick was rushed to Harborview Medical Center. Chris Wick said she learned of the incident through a call from the department, but was watching a TV news report on her husband just minutes later. She added she didn’t realize how serious the accident was until she saw her husband at the hospital.

“He wasn’t even recognizable,” Chris Wick said.

Gary Wick underwent three hours of surgery and has six titanium strips holding his jaw in place. He joked that, no, they won’t set off the metal detectors at the airport. Wick also now wears a pair of glasses, having suffered damage to his optic nerve.

While Wick said he was appreciative of the publicity and honors bestowed on his rescuers, he noted emergency workers often put themselves in harm’s way without any limelight.

“When you call 911, you just expect people to show up. And they do,” he said.

Among those who showed up to help Wick were Shoreline paramedics Craig Overfield and Nathan Downey, who according to Alvarado, supplied advanced life support.

Also at the scene and earning recognition from Bothell were Redmond medical personnel Skip Boyland, Matt Nelson and Kelly Dunn, along with Shoreline’s Jay Fisher.

Chris Wick said she and her husband had presented all eight firefighters and medics with St. Florian medals, St. Florian being the patron saint of firefighters.

“You can’t say ‘thank you,’ those words are so trite,” Chris Wick said.